Do You Hear The People Scream?
by Maveriqua
Summary: "Do you hear the people scream. At the ghosts going 'round and 'round. They're tromping all around us. And yet making not a sound..." When the Les Amis plus Cosette get lost in storm on their way to the beach, a case of mistaken identity makes the trip more terrifying then they could have imagined. Modern AU. I own nothing!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Cosette ran along the hallway, towards the door to a room. Enough was enough. She was grabbing Marius and getting out of this freaky place. The floorboards creaked under her as she got to the door. She tried the knob. Locked. Cosette heard something breathing behind her. It was coming closer. She gave an hard shove, and the rusty lock on the door broke. She sprinted into the room, the window right across from her. The window... a means of escape. She jumped for the window and grabbed onto the ledge, ready to propel herself through the glass. She was stopped by something grabbing her leg.

Cosette pulled and tugged, but could not free herself. As her left hand slipped, Cosette pushed aside the gauzy curtains, looking out at the foggy night, wishing she could see the sun one last time. _Goodbye father, _she thought,_goodbye Marius, goodbye Courfeyrac, Combeferre, Enjolras, Joly, Jehan, and Grantire. _Only three fingers were holding on now. Now two. Now one. _Mother, I am coming._

And she was pulled into the darkness.

_My name is Cosette Fravelechant, and this is our story. My friends and mine. It's an unusual story, a story you probably won't believe. You'll think we're crazy. No, that's an understatement. Looney, barmy, off our rockers, completely insane is more like it. But our story's true. It's all true._

_Maybe that's the craziest thing._

_Cosette_

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**Hello and welcome to a new story! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2: One Day Earlier

**One day earlier...**

Courfeyrac threw the last bag into the back of his SUV and shut the door. "All packed!" he called over his shoulder.

Marius shut the trunk of his own car and turned to Courfeyrac. "Same here."

Courfeyrac grinned. "Beach house, here we come!"

"Wait for me!" a lady called.

A young girl, about twenty-five, came down the steps of her family's bungalow. Behind her was an older man of about fifty. "...and remember, Cosette," he was saying, "if you get homesick..."

Cosette rolled her eyes good-naturedly and gave the man a kiss on the cheek, "I'll come straight home. Don't worry papa, I'll remember."

As Cosette got into Marius's car, the man said, "Marius, may I speak with you?"

Marius gulped and walked over to the man. Cosette's father scared him, really. Ever since Marius had learned about the fact that he was an escaped convict...

Cosette's father rolled his eyes. "Come on, I won't bite."

He put his hand on Marius's shoulder. "I know you love Cosette, and I know you have been married for almost a year. But let me say this. If one hair on Cosette's head is harmed while she is on this trip..."

His look told Marius the rest.

"Promise me that nothing will happen to her on this trip. _Nothing, _you hear?"

Marius nodded vigorously and practically ran back to the car. He jumped in the driver's seat and closed the door. Cosette looked at him worriedly. "He didn't give you a hard time, did he?" she asked, nervously twirling a strand of long brown hair around her finger.

Marius simply started the car. As they pulled out of the driveway and drove out of the neighborhood, Marius relaxed. After all, they were just going to the beach. What could possibly happen to them there?

* * *

Combeferre was desperately trying to keep the van upright. The rain and wind were pushing against the windows. It didn't help that in the back seat...

"I am not touching you! I am not touching you!"

" 'Ferre, Courf's trying to touch me!"

Combeferre sighed. "Courfeyrac, stop touching Jehan."

"But I'm not touching him!"

"I don't care! I'm trying to stop us from rolling over!"

Combeferre's phone rang. He picked it up. "Yes?" he snapped.

"Hello?" asked a timid female voice on the other side.

Combeferre winced. "Oh, sorry Cosette. Courf was trying to touch Jehan."

There were a few seconds of silence. "...right. Listen, Marius talked to this lady by the road and she says there's somewhere we can stay until this storm blows over."

Combeferre breathed a sigh of relief. "Where?"

In the other car, Cosette looked at the barely decipherable, sodden sheet the lady had given them. "122 Ocean Avenue."

Combeferre frowned. 122 Ocean Avenue. Why did that address sound familiar? "How far is it?"

"Not too far. Two blocks away."

Combeferre nodded. Later, he would look back on this and regret immensely what he said. Those two little words. Three, if you count the contraction.

"Let's go."

_That was it. That was how we landed at that house that night. October 14. The anniversary of the horrible event that had happened in the house years earlier. If only that woman hadn't shown up. If only I had remembered sooner. If only the paper had been more soaked, so Cosette couldn't have read the address._

_If only..._

_Combeferre_

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**And here is Chapter 2! Please review! Reviewers get cookies!**


	3. Chapter 3

**OMG. I am so sorry you guys! I haven't updated in so long! As a gift and apology, I will update two chapters today (maybe more depending how much writing I do today)! This one is short, sorry!**

**Thanks to Laveycee and Eternity Sword for pointing out the formatting errors, I don't know what happened.**

* * *

As the cars pulled up to the house, the wind grew even fiercer. The friends barely managed to get their bags out of the cars and stagger up the pathway to the house. They pushed open the unlocked door and almost collapsed inside. Actually, Courfeyrac did collapse on a sofa in what appeared to be the den. The room was comfortably warm, a drastic change from the storm outside.

Cosette sighed in relief and hung up her wet jacket. "Well, this is cozy." She looked around.

"Hello?" she called. "Anyone here?"

No response. The room was empty, except for the group. Combeferre looked around. "What a strange hotel."

As a matter of fact, it looked more like a house than a hotel. They were in a den, a fancy dining room off to the side, and another door on the far wall that was closed. There was a staircase that seemed to go up to a second floor.

"Hello?" called Cosette again.

"Hey, there's a note," said Courfeyrac, who had lifted his head from the sofa. He sat up and picked a piece of paper off the coffee table. The note read:

_Dear Guests,_

_Please feel free to stay until this storm is blown over. Bedrooms are upstairs if you wish to stay overnight. Breakfast is seven to eight a. m. tomorrow. Have a nice night._

_Rache Aus DeFeo_

_Owner_

"How strange," said Marius.

Everyone looked at Enjolras, the leader of the group. Enjolras frowned. "I don't like it," he said, "but with the weather like this, we don't seem to have any choice."

Thunder rumbled, as if to embellish his point. "We will have to stay the night."

Lightning flashed, making the lights flicker and bathing the room in an ominous glow.

* * *

_We should have driven in the storm._

_It would have been less dangerous and risky than staying that night._

_Enjolras_


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is the next chapter, which is hopefully a bit longer. Sorry again!**

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Marius woke up suddenly. He wasn't sure why. Desperately, he tried to go back to sleep. But it was no use. For some reason, he just could not go back to sleep. Cosette shifted beside him in the bed.

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

Marius shook his head. "Sorry I woke you."

Cosette shrugged. "I couldn't sleep either. I don't know why, but something about this place isn't letting me."

Marius groaned and laid his head down. Cosette touched his shoulder. "If you want, you can come downstairs with me to get some hot chocolate. I wanted to go, but the hallway was so dark I was kind of scared."

Marius got up. "Well, I'm not going to get any sleep anyway. Let's go."

The two went downstairs to see Courfeyrac and Combeferre, who had also shared a room, in the den. Combeferre looked up from the thick book he was reading. "Couldn't sleep either?" he asked.

Marius shook his head while Cosette went into the kitchen. He sat on the couch next to Combeferre.

"What are you reading?" he asked.

Combeferre looked up. "_Les Miserables _It's a book about many people in post-revolutionary Paris."

He glanced again at the book. "I don't know why, but it's giving me an odd sense of déjà vu..."

Cosette came back into the room, frowning. "No hot chocolate," she said.

"Someone day sobething aboud chocolate?" came Joly's voice from upstairs. He came down, blowing his nose, with Jehan, Grantire, and Enjolras following behind.

"Just that there isn't any," replied Cosette.

Enjolras groaned. "I'd take some warm milk. I have a paper to work on tomorrow…"

Cosette shook her head. "No milk either..."

Jehan frowned. "No milk?"

"…or fruit…"

"What kind of hotel doesn't t have fruit?" asked Enjolras.

"…or meat…"

Courfeyrac gasped. "No!" Combeferre elbowed him.

"…or vegetables…"

Most breathed a sigh of relief.

"…or bread…"

"Stop right there," said Jehan, frowning. "So far, we don't have chocolate, milk, fruit, meat, vegetables or bread…what do we have to eat?"

Cosette simply gestured for them to follow her, and they all filed into the kitchen. Marius looked around. Cosette was right, all the cabinets were open and empty. Cosette opened the fridge. Bare. There were not even cleaning products in the cabinets under the sink. Cosette turned the top on the sink. Nothing. Not even a drip of water.

"What the hell is this?" asked Courfeyrac. "No food, no water...how do we live?"

Jehan looked at Enjolras. "Could they be keeping it somewhere else?"

"That wouldn't make sense," Enjolras pointed out. "This would be the best place to keep it, especially in a house."

Courfeyrac threw up his hands. "How do we eat then? Cannibalism?"

Enjolras rolled his eyes. "Calm yourself. We can always find a grocery store."

"Easier said than done, Enjy," said Comebeferre, pointing outside, where the storm seemed to have grown worse.

Enjolras sighed. "Let's just go back to bed and…"

The lights went out.

"Oh, just great."

After the friends walked carefully back to the den, they found lit candles on the coffee table, semi-illuminating the room. Enjolras shook his head. "I really don't like this."

Cosette shrugged. "Considerate of them to leave a light, even with no food."

Suddenly, Marius tripped over something heavy.

"Are you all right?" asked Cosette, helping him up.

Marius nodded, picking up the object he had tripped over. "Who left this book here?"

Everyone looked at Combeferre. "It's not mine," he said, showing them the thick book still in his hand.

"Then who's is it?" asked Jehan.

Marius cracked open the book. "It's a diary."

Enjolras shook his head. "It's private. Don't read it."

"Read it!" the rest of the boys chanted. "Read it! Read it! Read it!"

"All right! All right!" shouted Marius as he began.

The diary talked about a young girl named Allison, who had lived in the house fifty years previously. The girl detailed how her father abused her and her siblings. She talked about her older brother, Robert "Butch" Jr.,and how he and her oldest sister, Dawn, were becoming more and more dissatisfied with their home life.

"…and Butch and Dawn are doing something with friends in the basement," Marius read. "Mom is telling me to put this down and go to sleep. Good night."

Marius flipped the page and frowned.

"Whad id it?" sniffled Joly.

"That's it."

"Huh?"

"That's the last entry. There's nothing after," Marius explained, flipping through the book rapidly, making the book start to shake.

Jehan blinked. "Marius, slow down! You're making the book vibrate."

Marius stopped, but the book did not stop vibrating. It got even stronger, making Marius' teeth chatter. Suddenly, the book burst into flames. Marius yelped and dropped it. The fire went out before the book, now a pile of ashes, hit the ground. Marius sat down, breathing heavily, as the candles went out.

"Now what?" asked Enjolras.

Jehan worked furiously to light a match. When it was lit, it revealed something that no one had ever seen before. It looked mostly like a pig, except it stood on its two hind trotters, had glowing red eyes, and was wearing a black cloak.

Jehan's eyes widened. "Oh crap."

Moments later, the friends vacated the room, splitting off in separate directions.

It took Marius a while to realize two things: One, the pig thing was not following him, and two, neither was Cosette. Panting from exertion, he crept back into the den, to find a lit candle and Jehan waiting.

"Who all's here?" Marius asked.

Jehan looked around the room. "Grantire is passed out, Combeferre is trying to finish his book, Enjolras is in the corner, Courfeyrac is, for some reason, under the coffee table…"

There was a sneeze. "And there's Joly, you, and me."

Marius gulped. "Then… where's Cosette?"

There was a scream, and the friends turned swiftly. The door that had been closed was now open, and the carpet near it was ragged, as if someone had torn at it.

Marius grabbed a candle and lit it using Jehan's. "Come on!"

_Scariest. _

_Moment. _

_Of my life._

_Right._

_There._

_Marius._


End file.
